Growing olives may not always be a lottery

Do you love olive oil and the specific taste of olives? Of course, these fruits are excellent especially as a snack with wine, but they are also great in many dishes. They are mostly imported from Greece, Spain, Italy. Well, from southern countries, where they normally grow. But did you know that olive trees can also be grown in Central Europe? In the following lines, we shall tell you in more detail how to do it and pinpoint a few pitfalls you may encounter.

An olive tree grows really slowly

Around Central Europe, olive trees are mostly grown in pots. These are long-lived plants with a very unpleasant feature. They grow very very slowly. The actual age of olive trees is not limited by tens or even hundreds of years! The oldest olive trees started growing even before the birth of Christ. In the ancient Greece olive trees were sacred plants which were given by the goddess Pallas Athena to city of Athens as a gift. In central Europe you may see bonsai-type olive trees but these are different from the traditional trees. On the other hand, these little trees age much quicker and start bearing fruit much sooner.

Olives: Photo Pixabay

Olive tree growing

First of all, you must realize that an olive tree needs high-quality soil. It should have a loamy-sandy character and you must make sure that it is sufficiently dry. Too much water is fatal for olive trees. Our soil in Central Europe is packed with humus and is also quite wet. Younger olive trees can handle temperatures down to -10 °C, older can deal with even lower temperatures. Cover young trees should with a cloth and place the soil around their roots. Olive trees do not need moist air. As for overwintering, make sure you have a room with a temperature of around 10 °C and a maximum humidity of 50%.

Olive tree: Photo Pixabay

Shape your trees properly and keep harvesting

In century Europe we mostly have miniature species of olive trees and they are becoming very popular. We advise you to purchase several varieties of olive trees, including bisexual ones. To support growth use green manure. Shape your trees by shortening long branches as needed. Your tree will get thicker, but you should prune it every two years to make it lighter. The first olives appear only after 5 years. Grafted trees bear fruit earlier and even better. As for the traditional taste of olives you would be surprised that the taste is completely different from the olives you by. To achieve that taste, the fruits need to be macerated in a very salty brine.

Olives: Photo Pixabay